A group set up for the stated purpose of putting pressure on the government to recover the Naalain-i-Mubarik, a pair of slippers said to belong to the Holy Prophet (pbuh) that was stolen from Badshahi Mashjid nine years ago, appears to have become a platform for attacks on the Auqaf Department’s director general.
Four types of colour posters bearing pictures of Auqaf DG Tahir Raza Bukhari have been pasted on walls all over the city. They blame him for the theft of the shoes and call for his sacking and arrest. They also express contempt for him personally and his family background.
Posters and banners insulting the DG were a regular feature of a recent series of demonstrations arranged by the Bazyabi-i-Naalain-i-Pak Action Committee (BNPAC) that ended on July 31. A regular participant in such demonstrations said that there had been an influx of new people at the protests.
“In the beginning we were surprised to see these two to three dozen new people at the demonstration with their own posters and banners, most of them having derogatory remarks against Tahir Raza Bukhari,” he said. “Now it is routine.”
The attacks are believed to originate from Maulana Abdulkhabir Azad, the khateeb of Badshahi Masjid, who has been engaged in a blame game over the shoes with the director general since they were stolen. Bukhari was suspended for two years on some other issue, but later returned to the post.
Azad is known to want a permanent appointment to the post of Badshahi Masjid khateeb, like his father before him, but Bukhari has opposed this.
The BNPAC was set up by Pir SA Jafri, a flamboyant figure who has attracted much press attention with his antics during protests on the issue. He has worn black and gone bare foot ever since the shoes were stolen as a mark of protest. The BNPAC is a five-party alliance, though Jafri is its single most prominent leader.
Supporters of Azad, one of them a senior member of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and a businessman, began currying favour with the committee over the course of the last year and a half or so. They were also able to recruit supporters from amongst Auqaf Department officials who had been suspended by the director general. After a sumptuous feast in Lahore last year, the BNPAC announced a series of protests at which the anti-DG posters and chants started appearing.
Asked about recent contributions to the committee, Jafri told The Express Tribune that he had not looked too hard at where the money came from. “Frankly, I am a poor man and can’t afford advertising expenses. The other parties in the alliance are the same. If someone is supporting us through posters and banners and of course with manpower, we ought to thank him instead of delving into unnecessary details.”
Azad denied that he had anything to do with the smear campaign against the director general. “My father had hundreds of thousands of followers throughout the country,” he said. “If I decide to go against anyone, there are more effective platforms available for me.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 5th, 2011.
COMMENTS (16)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Holy Slippers man!!! The mullah doesn't want to go into minute details. Even if the US is supporting his campaign. From his perspective, the terrorists are fine as long as they're supporting the Muslim cause, no problems if a they're getting money from selling hashish (??) :D I like him, he's crazy :D
@ajawai2: @EoH does not know. Not acquired, it is a metaphor. Read Dante's "Divine Comedy."
@ajawai2: We did not acquire them, they were "inflicted" upon us. It is a manifest metaphor of Divine dry humor. In Urdu it is roughly translated "Jute parna."
Can someone dare to demand a carbon test for the shoes and publish the result.I think that the slippers of our Holy Prophet (SAW) were a token of his love and our association with him. It is very heartbreaking that this important national treasure has been stolen but there should be one thing very clear that is only those could dare to steel it who either revere it or abhor it. We see that now this whole fiasco is directed towards Islamic forces. They stole the treasure; Maybe some Mullah or Pir wanted to bag this treasure as his own to declare to illiterate masses that he was given a divine signal to recieve it!
Yes, government is not doing enough to recover the lost treasure. A judicial commission must be set up before this tehrik incite more violent protests and masses take on streets as per habit!
Even if they are the Prophet's (Peace be upon him) shoes they are not and should not be an item of reverence or worship. If they were being treated as such then its good that they are gone. Saves thousands of muslims from committing Bidah/ Shirk.
@Javed: Our mullahs are now squabbling over theft of some shoes of dubious nature? Why doesn't that surprise me...
Part of the reason why we ,pakistanis, are in bad state of affairs is because of our religious scholars and leaders.They are the inheritors of the knowledge of our prophet .As such ,they should have led us from the front when innocent followers of the holy prophet are ridiculed,killed unjustly ,muslim women raped with no one to defend them ,young girls and boys abducted and sold,national wealth stolen ,corruption having become way of life ,rampant shirk everywhere and alien customs and traditions taking roots everywhere.Instead you will find them having sumptuous meals ,doing manazara on trivial matters of fiqh like saying ameen loudly or silently,gatherings of gyarwi shareef and in the four confines of their madrassas.They are even more shy than virgins to come out openly and solve the problems of the people.They have left the field open for the dirty politicians to play with the destiny of the people.Its high time they realise their importance as islamic scholars and aquaint the masses in things which can lead to their spirtual,economic and moral well being.
Islam is being used in Pakistan to settle personal and professional scores. Do not like your opponent call him a heretic, do not like an organization, call it a Zionist run entity etc etc. This is a non issue for net-mullahs, if this post was about any liberal or an NGO then the comment section would have exploded.
A mile long list of comments is only present when the article is about conspiracy theories or drone attacks. The Ghariat brigade disappears when real issues are discussed.
Clerics and Bureaucrats both suffers from mania to have their way. Down with both the categories. Both the institutions are corrupt and immoral to the hilt.
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and now, publish no (evil) comments. Very wise indeed!
Silence in comment section is deafening!
It seems that the Khateeb and BNPAC have their own ax to grind. From Shri'a perspective though (if anyone cares about Shari'a), they are committing "Shirk" and "Bida'a," since Prophet PBUH prohibited any Icon worship. I bet these thugs would be willing to spill innocent blood by declaring poor bureaucrat a heretic and blasphemous for pair of shoes. By the way had anyone conducted carbon dating to determine the age of the shoes or it has become part of Iman? And we blame the West, India, Israel for our wretched condition? We don't need any enemies; we are doing a superb job of destroying ourselves!